October is breast cancer awareness month and throughout the world, female-related non-governmental organisations would initiate activities to create awareness on breast cancer among their communities.

practising the catwalk

sunglasses about to fall off

Today, at the Polo Ground, the Pink October Carnival was organised, a collaborative effort of Perak Women For Women (PWW), breast cancer support group Pink Champions Perak, Pantai Hospital Ipoh and Ipoh City Council, to raise awareness on the disease and women’s issues, as October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

starting them young

patriotic

Pink October Carnival 2013 was launched by Ipoh City Council Secretary Dato’ Hj. Abdul Rahim Md. Ariff, on behalf of Ipoh City Mayor. He also flagged off Walk-A-Hunt, one of the activities lined up in conjunction with the carnival.

it’s not as easy as it looks

pretty in pink

Besides the usual health checks and dispensing of information, particularly on breast cancer, other highlights included “ten pink bowling” and ‘Walk In her shoes”, where men were challenged to walk in high heels, with the objective to create awareness in gender equality and to help stop rape, sexual assault, and gender violence.

braving it

the finale

Maybank Bhd., the corporate sponsor of Pink Champions Perak, presented aid to breast cancer survivors in the form of breast prosthesis, bras and wigs. Pink Champions Perak, on the other hand, received a personal computer for their resource centre, among other sponsorships.

Ipoh City Council Secretary Dato’ Rahim flags off participants of Walk-A-Hunt

the smell challenge

The carnival wrapped up with the One Billion Rising flash mob, a performance to demand an end to violence against women and girls.

speed eating

ten pink bowling

Breast cancer is the number one cancer among women in Malaysia and makes up of 30% of all new reported cancer cases in the country. One in 19 Malaysian women is at risk of being afflicted with breast cancer at some point in their lives. Although breast cancer is a “female cancer”, it also affects a small number of men. As with other cancers, early detection is the key, starting with Breast Self-Examination (BSE).